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Sunday, 7 June 2009

Communication Skills for Teachers - I

This presentation was presented in the Orientation Programme at Academic Staff College, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad. It deals with some basic communication skills required among the teachers to be effective communicator and efficacious teacher.

2. Plan of Action • Introduction: What is communication? • Importance of communication – esp for teachers? • Why/how teachers fail – bulgaria? Penny • Important points to be a good communicaitor in the classroom… • Types of learning styles: • Follow-up action in communication with the help of technology – sms/email/scrap/tweet/forum/ • Uploading lesson plans/classroom presentations on websites/SIGs- yahoo- Google • Real life situation: Group activity: Discuss your communication problems and how you try to overcome them?

3. Myth Vs Reality Communication Myths Communication Reality Communication is a conscious / deliberate Communication is an unconscious process process. (e.g. Osho’s visit to disciple, and it goes on at every moment of time! father-2 son,) We communicate primarily through We communicate through ‘verbal’ as well ‘words’ only. (Vodafone) as ‘non-verbal signs. Words mean the same to everyone. Meaning of the words lies more in (Pardon, women) perception of reality. (Idea ? EduSpread or joblessness) Communication is a one-sided process Communication is a two-way process and and it is controlled by communicator. it always happens, controlled by none. Message sent and message received are Transmission and reception of message the same. (see next slide for e.g.) can never be identical.

5. Introduction: • Morgan, Algiro L. in his paper ‘Communication Skills for Teachers’ • “One of the most neglected aspects of teacher training is thorough preparation in the diverse communication skills that are needed by good teachers in today's schools.”

6. Why doe he say so and what does he mean by it? • Why: What do you mean by communication? • Peter Little: “Communication is the process by which information is transmitted so that an understanding response results.” • Lyndsay Swinton: “It's not about whizzy powerpoint slides or wordy reports. Effective communication is about being understood.” • Success comes in direct proportion to the command one has over communication. • Knowledge is power – but it is potential power – it should be acted upon – otherwise . . .

7. Algiro Morgan • “Pre-professional teachers require a grounding in communication theory, a thorough knowledge of how children acquire competence, an understanding of how language is used, an ability to discern and to respond sensitively to the body language used in a communicative transaction, rhetorical skills for the organization and delivery of specific knowledge and skills, and a grounding in group dynamics and group discussion skills.”

10. Is it as easy as it is said??? • No… it is not that easy. To learn to communicate is a difficult task. • Some teachers can produce the effect – quite effortlessly…. Others die hard to, but never succeeds!!! • Are teachers born or made???Penny Ur – 1997, conference presentation:

11. Penny Ur - 1997 • In this respect she identifies some essential qualities, which relate to teaching rather than other professions: • – I sense where the learner is at, what their problem is: I feel what they know and what they don’t know. – I know how to transform what I know about the language into a form that is accessible to my learners – I know how to design and administer activities and exercises that will foster learning – I know when learning is and is not happening by the way the learners behave: I don’t need tests – I get my ‘buzz’ from when the students succeed, learn, progress

12. Very important to remember whil teaching: various Learning Styles: • Auditory Learner: It is a learning style in which a person learns through listening. • Visual Learner: Itis a teaching and learning style in which ideas, concepts, data and other information are associated with images and graphs/charts/playcards. • Kinesthetic Learner: It is a teaching and learning style in which learning takes place by the student actually carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture or merely watching a demonstration.

14. Use of technology as follow-up actions in communication skills • Pedagogy is evolving with newer technological aids for better communication in classroom. • Various ICT components helps teacher in enhancing their skills in teaching. • It also has its deep rooted impact on the learning of the students. • Here, we discuss how can we sharpen our communication skills by using it for follow-up actions?

16. Real life classroom problems in communication !!! • Group activity: • Discuss with your partners some of communication crisis you faced in your classroom and how did you manage to overcome it? • The group representative will present the report of their discussion. • 20 mins for discussion • Each group representative will get 5 mins to present their discussion.